I think it is worth doing a post mortem of the 7th inning.
Viz is on the DL. Carle pitched 2 innings last night and is not avaiable. Minter and Winker being held back for the 8th and 9th. Neither pitched last night. Tomorrow is an off day so the manager has more freedom to burn pitchers to get the platoon advantage and I think also more freedom to consider getting 4 outs from Minter and Winkler. In fact Snit brought in Winkler with 2 outs in the 7th.
The first four hitters due up are are a lefty (Schebler), a righty (Peraza), a pinch hitter for the pitcher, and a righty (Suarez).
Looking at those four hitters, who should Snit bring in to start the inning. I think Freeman is the logical choice. The realistic alternatives are Moylan, Biddle, Jackson and Parsons.
Freeman walks Schebler.
Should Snitker consider bringing a righty at this point to get Peraza?
Normally no. With an off day tomorrow? I think it would be worth at least considering. Who should it be? Probably too early for Winkler. Parsons just got called up. So either Jackson or Moylan. The scenario that has the most appeal to me is Moylan for one hitter (Peraza). After that the Reds would send up a lefty pinch hitter. I would counter with Biddle, hoping the Reds switch to a righty switch hitter, which I think they would do.
My criticism of Snitker's bullpen use in the 7th is fairly subtle. It turns on tomorrow being an off-day. Normally I would not lift Freeman so quickly, but with the off day tomorrow the manager can be more aggressive in using the pen.
At a later point in the inning, I think Snitker should have also considered lifting Freeman. This would be to bring in Winkler for Suarez. Again with the off-day tomorrow you can be more aggressive in seeking out the platoon advantage even if it means burning up a pitcher. They can rest tomorrow.
You could argue Biddle has now moved into a place where he should be considered for the 7th inning role, but I agree with you.
The root issue here is that the Braves did not really believe they would be in first place at the end of June. They elected to use this season to clear their bad contracts and stage things for a run at doing something next year.
Injury issues are really hitting them hard at the moment too.
To be sure, I'm not melting down. I never thought they would be anywhere close to where they are at now in the W/L department, so this season is kind of gravy when it comes down to it (at least to this point). I just hate seeing games p*ssed away by the bullpen and it doesn't matter to me if the team is in first or last when that happens. Just a tough way to lose games.
there wasn't a point in the 7th inning where it was obvious Snitker should have made a different decision
One thing I always did like about Bobby was how he’d seemingly always throw fresh meat in the grinder right away. I would’ve liked to see Parsons out there in the seventh, given some of the team’s depth concerns, just as it would’ve been nice to get Phillips in a game upon arrival.
10 games?!?!
Wow! Imagine how good a position the Braves would be in with a competent manager!!
We need a strong situational lefty that replaces Freeman and have Phillips replace Moylan. I think that's all we really need.
Freeman is one of the top 3-4 options out of the BP. Replacing him would be silly.
you can't lose two of three at home to baltimore and the reds, yes this is on snit. that loss vs baltimore we had no business losing and again today snit sucks. He is doing this vs bad teams, he has no excuse as a good manager is not this stupid. The team isn't the problem, they have shown a ton of fight this year and would be running away with this division without an idiot manager.
you can't lose two of three at home to baltimore and the reds, yes this is on snit. that loss vs baltimore we had no business losing and again today snit sucks. He is doing this vs bad teams, he has no excuse as a good manager is not this stupid. The team isn't the problem, they have shown a ton of fight this year and would be running away with this division without an idiot manager.
Freeman = Gearrin
Sore arm by end of season.
You can actually. It's called baseball. As frustrating as it is, every single team loses games and series they should have won.
Sorry to break it to you, but the Braves aren't as talented as you seem to think. They're going to go through the same amount of ups and downs that every 80-90 win team in history has gone through. Having someone other than Snitker isn't going to suddenly make them a 100 win team.